Council denies large encroachment request

Concerned that allowing a 400 square foot encroachment would set a bad precedent for the town, Jasper councillors rejected an encroachment agreement proposed in the trailer park at the June 7 council meeting.

Council voted 6-1 to reject an appeal put forth to allow a fence to continue to stand within the town’s green space, with Mayor Richard Ireland as the sole opposing vote.

The property in question requires an encroachment agreement in order to re-mortgage the house, which acted as the trigger for this particular case.

Council expressed concern if they allowed the encroachment agreement, others would demand similar treatment and the town would lose more of its green space.

Coun. Rico Damota said encroachments are eroding the town’s green space and the town should do something about it.

“I’m concerned the green space is being chipped away bit by bit,” Coun. Damota said.

The town has several neighbourhoods where property lines are ignored , as many residents erect fences well past their property lines, council heard.

Manager of corporate services Verne Balding said neighbourhoods such as Patricia Circle, Cabin Creek Drive, Aspen Crescent and Brewster Crescent all have substantial encroachment issues.

Many of the encroachments date back prior to incorporation, and the town is attempting to clean them up, according to town manager George Krefting.

“We inherited the problem,” he said.

However, the town has implemented a policy to crack down on encroachments only when a house sold or re-mortgaged.

By denying this particular request, no action will necessarily take place on the property. Balding said the current bylaw gives council the ability to address encroachment issues by imposing payments the same way taxes are imposed, however the homeowner can now simply withdraw the request and no change will necessarily occur with the property.

Town manager George Krefting said allowing the encroachment would be precedent setting, noting that allowing 400 square foot encroachments to be considered ‘incidental’ would have large consequences. Currently, incidental encroachments are set at 50 square feet.

“Approval for the 400 square foot setback would set a new benchmark,” Krefting said.

He also warned against changing the policy to crack down on all encroachments at once.

“There’s a lack of administrative resources to do it. If council wants them all done, it would be quite the task,” Krefting said.

Mayor Ireland proposed a plan to allow the encroachment for a short period of time to let the owners move their fence. He said the owners have agreed to move the fence line back to the property line, and the town could ask for cash in exchange for that time. If the fence wasn’t moved, the town could then enforce the bylaw.

“I have sympathy for them. The fence was there when they bought the house. But we have a lever. If we could get a compliance bond that said they would move the fence, we could accommodate them,” Mayor Ireland proposed. “We can give them what they need and we have to start getting our land back.”

Coun. Mike Day said allowing the encroachments was not a “responsible way to do business.”

“If we allow them, they will never come back as public space,” he said.

Green space board member Carol Smith attended the council meeting and expressed her concern with the encroachment.

“Once you start with this, you have everyone want it, then you lose what little green space the town has,” Smith said.

The owners said the fence was in place when they purchased the land and they are willing to move it, however they required the agreement for their finance agreement.

Manager of environmental services Ken Quackenbush said that when properties are transfered, they are surveyed to determine where the property lines sit.

“It’s all surveyed. The pins are there,” Quackenbush said. “Anything new is easy to find.”